Non-Adiabatic Effects on Excited States of Vinylidene Observed with Slow Photoelectron Velocity-Map Imaging

High-resolution slow photoelectron velocity-map imaging spectra of cryogenically cooled (X) over tilde B-2(2) H2CC- and D2CC- in the region of the vinylidene triplet excited states are reported. Three electronic bands are observed and, with the assistance of electronic structure calculations and quantum dynamics on ab initio-based near-equilibrium potential energy surfaces, are assigned as detachment to the (a) over tilde B-3(2) (T-1), (b) over tilde (3)A(2) (T-2), and (A) over tilde (1)A(2) (S-1) excited states of neutral vinylidene. This work provides the first experimental observation of the (A) over tilde singlet excited state of H2CC. While regular vibrational structure is observed for the (a) over tilde and (A) over tilde electronic bands, a number of irregular features are resolved in the vicinity of the (b) over tilde band vibrational origin. High-level ab initio calculations suggest that this anomalous structure arises from a conical intersection between the (a) over tilde and (b) over tilde triplet states near the (b) over tilde state minimum, which strongly perturbs the vibrational levels in the two electronic states through nonadiabatic coupling. Using the adiabatic electron affinity of H2CC previously measured to be 0.490(6) eV by Ervin and co-workers [J. Chem. Phys. 1989, 91, 5974], term energies for the excited neutral states of H2CC are found to be T-0((a) over tilde B-3(2)) = 2.064(6), T-0((b) over tilde (3)A(2)) = 2.738(6), and T-0((A) over tilde (1)A(2)) = 2.991(6) eV.